Some say there are 2 groups of people living in this world.

The first group believes that whatever happens, whether it being good or bad, is pure coincidence. There's no specific explanations to occurrences.

Meanwhile, group two believes that everything happens for a reason. Whether the reason being good or bad isn't up to them, but they have faith that everything that happens has an explanation. 

And being in group two, Brian was currently searching for the reason he was watching a tall familiar man trying to get coffee off his jacket, as he apologized for bumping into Brian.

"Oh Gosh, sorry" he says and he finally looks up

"Younghy-"

"Brian." he clarifies before Jaehyung could get his hopes up again,

"From the cafe." he says with a smile as he sees slight disappointment fill the author's eyes.

"Ah, sorry again" Jae says with a laugh and he continues,

"Did I get any coffee on you? Sorry, I'm kind of clumsy"

"Nope, I'm clear. Looks like your jacket got all of it," he says with a laugh.

"Brian!" a loud voice interrupts the unnecessary and awkward small talk.

The two turn around to see someone they both recognized

"Oh!" is what Sungjin says afterwards, once he processes that Brian was talking to Jaehyung. He looks at Brian with a suggestive expression, his eyebrows raised.

"Hey again," he says to Jaehyung once he reached the two

"Hi," the author actually acknowledges his existence this time.

"Brian, we should get going, we're almost late" Sungjin notifies and Brian gives Jaehyung a quick goodbye and the 2 are off to work.

It's only a matter of time before Brian's predictions come true

"So... You and Jaehyung don't know each other, huh?"

"I knew you were gonna say something"

"How could I not, you two were fully talking!" Sungjin argues as he slips on their uniform.

"We were talking because he bumped into me, it was barely a conversation. If the exchange of a couple of words counts as a conversation to you, you should rethink your social life."

"What the Hell, don't have to be so mean.." Sungjin murmurs under his breath and Brian just laughs at him.

The work day goes smoothly, successful in the fact that Brian doesn't strangle Sungjin for the amount of questions he's asking about Jaehyung.

It's not that Sungjin's persistent teasing was annoying; Brian had gotten used to his best friend's antics after 3 years. 

It's the irritating feeling that Brian, himself, is unsure if he knows Jaehyung or not.

The reason being, Brian has already suffered 2 relapses.

Brian suffers from something called dissociative fugue disorder; which results in the complete loss of memory, which then leads to his loss of identity. 

The first time it happened, he was 12. Or atleast, that's what his parents tell him.

He went to bed one night, and the next morning he woke up without the slightest clue of whose room he was in, or who he was.

Amidst the panicked and confused tears and questions, the 12 year old decides to trust the sleep adults who were assuring him that everything was fine, and that they were his parents, and they go to the hospital in their pyjamas. 

For all Brian knows, the second time it happens is when he's 20, while him and his parents were staying in Canada. And ever since then, he's known himself to be Brian Kang. 

It's frustrating, not being able to remember anything from before 4 years ago. It's not that he's unhappy with the life he's living now. At the young age of 24, Brian has a beautiful girlfriend who he loves sincerely, and vice versa. He has a small group of friends, and a best friend that's annoying but he wouldn't ask for anyone else.

But, still.

It's irritating when he's with his family and they're all talking about things that happened in the past, and he has to just smile and nod as if he's not upset by the fact that he doesn't remember it. 

It's sad that the only memories he has of his childhood are in photographs which his parents show to him proudly, and maybe explain something if Brian has a question.

It's that unsettling feeling of being unsure of who he really was. It's scary, living in fear that it'll happen again. Maybe, one day, he'll wake up and not know the girl sleeping soundly beside him, he won't know the brown haired boy that comes to his house when the girl starts panicking and calls someone for help. It's scary, in the sense that, everyone he knows now, he may forget tomorrow. The thought of his closest people being scared of getting hurt if Brian forgets them, and leaving him for someone that will actually remember them; it's scary. 

The doctors say that the memories can come back, but Brian hasn't experienced that luxury yet.

He's hoping he does, soon, so that family parties won't be as awkward. So that he can reassuringly know that 'Brian Kang' is who he is.

Because of this, he sincerely doesn't know if he knew Jaehyung or not.

The gap between 12 and 20 years old isn't in his memory, and he's unsure if Jaehyung had been erased too.

I'll just ask my parents about it...

He thinks as he's wiping down the counters,

I mean, I'm sure they'd tell me if I was close to a famous author, right? There'd be no reason to leave it out when they're filling me in. But, just to be sure, when Minri and I go over for dinner this weekend, I'll ask. Who knows, maybe we were close or something-

The boy's plans are cut off when he hears the familiar bell ring at the door, and when he looks up to greet the customer, he can already feel Sungjin's eyes on him.

Jaehyung walks in, not wearing pyjamas and a hoodie, but black dress pants and a white dress shirt tucked in at his waist. On his arm is his grey jacket, folded while a black messenger bag is slung across his shoulder.

"Hey, can I get an iced Americano," he says as he walks up to the register, cash ready. 

Sungjin's already preparing his drink, which leaves Jaehyung and Brian in silence.

"Back again?" he asks, and he doesn't know why he always feels the need to share some small talk with Jaehyung.

"Yeah, this cafe is really quiet compared to everywhere else. I love it" he says and he gives Sungjin a smile as he hands him his drink,

"Thanks..." he says, raising his eyebrows and Sungjin says,

"Oh, my name's Sungjin."

"Call me Jae, please" he says, referring to the both of them.

"Brian and Sungjin." Jae recites as he looks at the two baristas, 

"I think I'll be seeing you two quite often. Do you guys mind if I do my writing and stuff here?"

"You wanna write in public? At our cafe?" Sungjin asks

"Yeah, I mean, if you guys don't mind." Jae responds,

"I don't know, I just like this place" he says as he looks around, and then continues,

"It's a weird feeling to explain. But it makes me feel, like.. warm and safe. You feel me?" his true way of speaking was coming through.

But Brian knew what he meant. Because it's the same indescribable feeling he gets when he looks into Jae's eyes. 

"Yeah, I mean, I guess." Sungjin answers and adds,

"If you need anything else, just let us know" he says as Jae flashes a thankful smile and starts looking for a table.

Jae settles in the corner of the cafe, where the lights don't reach as much. He takes out his laptop, sets his Americano down and just stares at the screen.

"Don't. Even. Start." Brian warns and Sungjin just sighs, and puts his hands up in defeat.

"All I'm saying is that you might know each other." 

Sungjin knows about Brian's disorder. 

And it's scary for him too. The idea of one day, his best friend won't be his best friend anymore. But, the fact that Brian trusts him and opens up to him knowing his condition, that's good enough for Sungjin. 

It's closing time, and Jaehyung is still there. Whether or not he's written another masterpiece is something Brian and Sungjin aren't sure of, because for the most part,everytime they looked over at the young man, he was just staring blankly at the screen.

"Still no inspiration?" Sungjin says as he's cleaning the tables surrounding Jaehyung

"I don't know what to write about, and it's annoying," Jae says with a smile as he starts packing up his stuff,

"Sorry for just staying here," he says and Sungjin waves at him with a warm smile,

"Don't be sorry. You could stay here for as long as you like. Well, not anymore, 'cause we're closing"

"The next time I'm here, I'll buy more things, don't worry,"

"So, you're gonna be coming back?" Brian says,

"Unless you and Sungjin are already tired of me," he jokes with a smile.

"Hey, Jae, I have something to ask you,"

"Yeah, shoot. I'm like an open book," 

Brian opens his mouth to speak, but closes it, as the 3 of them turn their heads to the entrance when they hear the bell go off,

"Sorry, we're clo-" Sungjin goes to inform but stops when he recognizes the girl walking in.

"Hi babe!" Minri says to Brian,

"Hi Sungjin," and he waves back before returning his attention to the table.

"Min-ah, what're you doing here?" Brian asks with a smile as he draws closer and hugs her

"You're the one that told me to come in next time."

Brian just smiles at her fondly, but then remembers what he was doing before his girlfriend came in.

"Oh, nevermind" he turns his attention to the tall man who was slipping on his jacket,

"I'll ask next time." he says and Jae just gives him a smile and nod

It's only then that Minri registers who the tall customer is, and her jaw becomes slacked.

"Oh my God" she whispers and escapes Brian's arms to go to Jae

"Hi Jaehyung! Oh my God, my- my name is Minri, and I'm a huge fan of your books!" she says and Brian hears Sungjin's snort of a laugh. 

"Oh, hi. Nice to meet you," he says as they shake hands

"I'm honoured to hear that," he continues with a dashing smile and Brian has this sudden feeling of jealousy, but he doesn't know which one he's jealous of; but the odd feeling goes away as soon as it came.

Minri's amazed smile is then replaced with a pout when she turns to look at Brian,

"I told you he was my favourite author, why didn't you tell me he was here?!" 

"Why would I invite a crazy fangirl to the cafe where he's trying to write?"

"I'm not crazy~" Minri whines as she makes her way back to her boyfriend

"Crazy for me?" Brian says and places a quick kiss on her cheek as Sungjin fake gags and Jae just laughs to himself at the cheesiness.

"Get a room you two~" Sungjin says as he throws the wet rag he was using to clean at Brian.

"Whatever," the latter says after catching the rag, as he starts cleaning the other tables

"I better get going, I think my friend might kill me-"

And once again the entrance bell goes off, and Sungjin doesn't even get a chance to tell the person that the cafe is closed when,

"Jae!" an unknown voice calls, and the group turns to see another young man, with light brown hair who's significantly shorter than Jae. He's dressed just as nicely, and has his phone in his left hand

"Oh, Pirimiri-ah!" Jae calls back,

"I told you not to call me that in public-" the other scolds, but his upset expression turns into awe when he sees Brian,

"You-"

"His name is Brian.. It's not him." Jae says with a sad smile and Brian only gets more curious.

"Ah, sorry.." the man's voice says,

"Is this where you were for the past 2 hours?!"

"5, actually." Jae corrects, and tries saying

"Wonpil, calm down-"

"You told me you were gonna meet me 2 hours ago! And I walk around town to find you here?" 

"I lost track of time, okay? Let's just get going now, stop being so loud at their cafe"

"I'm only loud because of your incompetence," Wonpil says and he turns to bow politely at Sungjin and Brian who didn't really know how to respond in the situation

"See you later, Brian, Sungjin" Jae says and looks at the girl in Brian's arms,

"Nice meeting you, Minri"

And the two were off, but not before Sungjin muttered a weak 'bye' with an awkward wave at Wonpil.

Silence takes over, but Brian breaks it saying,

"If you leave your mouth open like that, you'll drool" 

Sungjin immediately closes his mouth, pretending like he doesn't feel his cheeks start to warm up,

"Shut up."

"Ooo~ Sungjin has a crush on Jae's friend!" Brian teases and Minri has to quickly move out of the way, and just misses being tackled by Sungjin who is now chasing Brian around the cafe.

That night is another one of Brian simply staring at the ceiling; it didn't help that Wonpil thought he was Younghyun too, and he's just looking for some answers. Reasons as to why 2 people have mistaken him for someone that he's never heard of living in their town. 

When the weekend comes, Brian's more determined than excited.

He wants to ask his parents questions,which he hopes to get answers to. 

He decides to ask after dinner, because for some reason, he feels like it might ruin the mood, and he likes the sight of his mom and Minri talking to each other, smiles on their faces.

The 4 are in the living room, talking amongst themselves. 

"Hey, dad" Brian says, grabbing the attention of all of them,

"Can I see the photo albums from when I was younger?" and his mom gets up instead, happily returning with 2 albums filled with pictures.

Brian accepts them with a 'thank you' and then proceeds to look at them, as Minri moves to his side.

Brian was a cute baby, always smiling in the photos; it's a shame he doesn't remember any of this. Even the photo of him in a bumper car, and then one where he's at a water park, and he looks about 11 in both pictures. 

He flips through the pages slowly, mainly because Minri feels the need to comment on how cute Brian is in every photo, and his mom adds a few words in agreement.

He gets through one album, and hands it to Minri who insists on looking at them up close, and his mother joins her. He grabs the second one and begins flipping through, a little rushed even though he doesn't know what he's looking for. But, he suddenly pauses when he sees a photo. He, himself, looks about 14 or 15 in the photo, and beside him is a blonde boy with a wide smile.

Brian's pretty sure it can't be, but he decides to ask anyway

"Dad," he says, and his mom is listening now too

"Who is he?" he asks, pointing at the blonde happy boy who looks comfortable at Brian's side.

And the young man pretends like he doesn't notice the glance his parents share, as his dad says

"One of your friends in elementary,"

And Brian doesn't pay much mind to it, until he continues flipping through the photos, and realizes the blonde boy quite frequently appears in photos,

"Were we close?" Brian asks, and his mom is quiet for a moment, before she clears and says,

"Yes." 

"What happened to us? Like, where is he now?" 

"That's not important." his dad answers, a little more seriously than Brian had expected,

"He's not at your side right now, like Minri and Sungjin are."

And because of the tense atmosphere, he decides to not ask more questions.

Even when he keeps flipping, and a photo catches his eye. It's of him, he looks older, closer to his current age, and by the balloons in the back, he concludes that it was at someone's 19th birthday, unsure if it was his though. But what's weird about this photo, is that it's cut. It's a clean cut, singling out Brian as he's smiling happy, but the manual cropping doesn't remove the arm around Brian's waist, and Brian's sincerely wondering who's eyes he's staring so happily into.

He's helping his mom wash the dishes, when he decides to look for more answers again. Minri is talking with his dad in the living room, and he takes advantage of him and his mom being alone

"Mom," he starts,

"Yes, sweetie?" she replies happily,

"Do you know when I got my tattoo?"

"When you just turned 20. You got it on your birthday," she answers and Brian's thankful that so far, she's not getting upset like his dad did.

Brian's quiet for a while, trying not to let his mind run wild with theories about Jaehyung's interview; his best seller.

"Do you, uh... Do you know why I got it?"

His mom goes quiet, and Brian's just wishing he didn't have this stupid disorder so he wouldn't have all these questions. If he could just remember, there would be no reason to ask questions, because he would know himself. 

"I-I don't remember clearly," she replies, and Brian can almost hear the lie laced in her voice,

"But, I think, someone got one with you. I don't know who, but you had gotten tattoos." 

"Were they matching ones?"

"Brian." his mom stops rinsing the dishes, the kitchen going silent as she stops the flow of water. 

"Your dad and I have told you about your life before the relapse, and you accepted it. Why are you suddenly interested in your past?"

Brian laughs awkwardly,

"Is that a bad thing? I mean, it's not like there's anything to hide, right?" he says, directed more to himself than his mother.

"And, it's nothing serious.. Just curious, no real reason." Brian answers.

And he doesn't tell his parents that a tall boy with blonde hair, who is good with words is the reason.

Because, even to him, it sounds ridiculous. Him questioning the life he's known, and his identity because of someone he knows as a stranger, it's a bit far-fetched. 

And so, he chucks the sudden interest up to curiosity, refusing to admit that Park Jaehyung was the reason.

AUTHOR'S NOTE;

hi guys, thank you for the subscribers and comments! ^_^ i really appreciate the support, lol (: i hope this second chapter wasn't too bad, and please be patient, the story will progress soon lol, just trying to lay down some base. alright, uh, i'm really awkward, sorry. LOL but !! i hope you guys stay interested, and subscribe to keep updated! please comment any of your thoughts, i really like reading them hehe c: alright, i'll try and update soon, but until then, peace! - Zen